My friends at YouthMinistry 360 have cooked up another great piece of curriculum just in time for Easter. This FREE lesson will help you share the message of Christ's glorious resurrection in a new light! The lesson helps you, the youth worker, tell the greatest story of redemption with a prepared outline, handouts, and a powerpoint presentation. Teenagers will walk away from this message having a better understanding of what Christ has done for them but will also see the thread of Love that has been woven throughout history.

Click [here] to download this FREE lesson now ... and also explore the other great resources from the folks at YM360.

Are you attending the Orange Conference this year? If you've never heard of it, I'd encourage you to check it out. The Orange Conference is a premiere gathering of church leaders in Family Ministry (preschool, children, youth and senior leadership) presented by Orange, an organization that exists to equip churches in family ministry by providing strategy, resources, curriculum, and coaching.

I've really enjoyed attending the Orange Conference and I'm very excited to be a part of it again this year... and I want YOU to join me! I thought it would be fun to giveaway a FREE registration to the conference. You can win it here! (see details below)

Share this on Facebook: Win a FREE ticket to the Orange Conference! www.bit.ly/wintickettoOC #thinkorange #kidmin #stumin

Step 2: Comment on this post and share in one sentence why you want to attend the Orange Conference. ((Link to your twitter status or Facebook status in the post!))

Please note:

*The deadline to enter is Tuesday, March 27th at 5:00PM EST. I'll use random.org to determine a winner (your # will be based on the order you comment in) and the winner will be announced via Twitter just after 5.00PM EST on that same day.

*Airfare and hotel accommodations are NOT part of the giveaway. The "winner" receives one FREE registration to the Orange Conference.

*Only one entry (comment), per person, will be accepted.

*Entrants must follow both steps (Step 1 and Step 2 -- as outlined in the post).

Recruiting volunteers is not easy for many youth workers. I'd like to encourage you to try a different way of recruitment next time you need to add volunteer staff. Here's a 3-step approach I tried recently with our student leadership team:

1. Ask your students WHO they would like to see on the team.

I gathered our student leaders together and asked them to identify one person (or at least one) that they would like to see help out in our ministry. Immediately they voiced the name of a person they highly respect and love. I heard things like "It would be awesome if they were a part of our ministry!" You're already off to a great start when you hear things like this...

2. Write down the names suggested and commit to pray over them.

Tell your students you would like to pray over the names and ask them to pray along with you. Ask God if these specific people should be a part of your student ministry.

3. Challenge the students to make the ask!

It makes all the difference in the world when the "ask" comes from the student. Why not challenge your students to go and ask the person they recommended if they would like to serve in Youth Ministry?

Follow these 3-simple steps, coach your students as much as you'd like in the process, and then see how God uses your teens to bring new volunteers your way! I only wish I would have let the students lead like this sooner.

Try this approach and comment on this post to let me know how it goes for you.

Have you heard of the Youth Cartel? It's a new youth organization led by two of my youth worker friends, Mark Oestreicher and Adam McLane. You really need to check out their website to learn about all of the things they offer, but one of the really cool things they are doing is putting together some great gatherings for youth workers.

Recently announced on their blog is a great, new event called "The Summit." It's a two-day gathering of youth workers to learn and dream together and its happening this November in Atlanta. I encourage you to check it out, visit the site often -- as new speakers are being added periodically -- and register!

I'd also encourage you to check out this quick promo video. Lean in... and listen to the bearded-Marko:

I'm always encouraging youth workers to build into students and find ways to connect with teens. In the past week I've thought a lot more about how important it is for me to set staff up for success. If I don't properly coach volunteers, and share practical ways to do ministry, I'm inevitably setting them up to fail. With that in mind, I thought I'd jot down a number of quick ideas I had for developing relationships with students and share them with leaders.

Disclaimer: This list was written exclusively for small group leaders, but these tips could really apply to anyone who is looking to connect with teenagers.

10 Quick Ideas for Connecting with Students (in Your Small Group):

1. Start a Facebook Group for your small group only

Start a Facebook Group and change the privacy settings to make it a closed group ("secret group"), which will allow you to share prayer requests, etc and it will keep things private. Just keep close watch on your group and moderate what is posted.

2. Mentor them

Each student really needs a mentor. Why not spend an hour with a student each week? (or even 30 minutes!) It's really the best investment you could make with teens.

3. Post regularly (or even periodically) to the wall of your official Student Ministry Facebook page

Sharing a brief message on the Student Ministry Facebook wall shows the excitement you have for your group and also may appeal to other students outside your small group that you might not otherwise reach.

4. Host a "girls only" or "guys only" (whichever applies to your group) event and get them to invite friends

Hosting an event for your small group is a great way to build into your students.

5. Each lunch with students (at school, on weeekend, etc.) or meet them for coffee or ice cream after school

There is nothing like getting on their turf! Meeting up with students to grab a bite to eat or treat them goes a long way. (I've heard youth pastors like this too. ;-)

6. Have dinner with their family

This is a wonderful idea -- if you can secure an invite from the family to come over for dinner. You get to see what life is like for the student (at home) and get to build into their parents too!

7. Attend their extra-curricular activities (sports, dance, etc.)Students love when you support their interests. This is a great way to show you care... and let's face it, sometimes you might be filling in the gap for their parent by sitting on the sidelines when the parent can't make it to cheer on their child!

8. Send them text messages throughout the week (between Sundays\Wednesdays) to check-in and encourage them

Students really need to hear from caring adults throughout the week. Sending them a text or tweet during the week is a great way to show you are interested in them. Otherwise, your communication with them sounds like just a plea to get them to your event.

9. Work on a service project together

Working a project together really helps create community within your group and will help you connect with students individually too!

10. Attend student events\programs you might not otherwise attend

Don't be content to limit your interaction with students to the one or two events or programs you are normally a part of. Why not surprise them by showing up to other youth ministry events to participate?

Why do we allow 1 negative comment to ruin 1,000 compliments? (I personally did that this weekend -- ugh!)

Who is attacking your ministry?

Who doesn't like you? (We can normally think of 'that' person right away)

Why do we react to vanity? (Gave example of Twitter spam: "Did you see the awful things said about you in this video???")

Whatever you do that is 90% perfect and is shared changes lives...

Many times when we give 100% and don't share it goes nowhere.

The drive to be a Christian celebrity is the worst drug.

God is not surprised by the ministry you are doing now (no matter how large or how small it may be)

God wants us to know that He knows our name... THERE'S YOUR FAME!

We believe that if people find out who we are, they will only abandon us.

What is fear afraid of?

Do you listen to the voice of comparison?

Never compare your beginning to someone else's middle. (I love that!) For instance, don't compare your ministry (especially if you are only 2 years deep into ministry... to someone who has done ministry for 20 years)

What are your voices saying?

Sometimes when God is quiet we think we have failed!

Did you notice in the story of the prodigal son that the father didn't say one word to the son who returned home? He only called for a celebration! We need more celebration.

If you can't join us in Louisville this weekend, I encourage you to watch the LIVE stream of the conference, beginning at 4:30PM later today. You can catch all general sessions plus some action going on between 1-6PM on Saturday and Sunday!

Follow my tweets for some play-by-play commentary and the #SYMC thread also.

If you're at the conference, I'd love to meet you. I'm doing a few workshops also and would love to see your face. Just look for my name on the infamous "yellow sheet" to get the times and locations.

I'm out in Louisville, KY speaking at the National Simply Youth Ministry Conference (LIVE blogging to commence!), but I really wanted to alert you to a FREE, online conference that you need to be watching today. It's called GroundSWELL and the speaker line-up is made up of all students! Gosh, we REALLY need to lean in and listen to this folks! My assistant, Seth Adams, is one of the speakers. You'll get to meet him at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference if you attend. =)

Here's a snapshot of the GroundSWELL conference at GroundSWELL.tv:

[Click here] to connect to GroundSWELL.tv. A rebroadcast of the online conference will be held TODAY at 7:00PM EST.

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This is a personal blog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not
those of my employer or any other entity I may be affiliated with. Additionally, my thoughts and opinions may change
from time to time. I consider this a consequence of having an open mind. This blog is intended to provide a channel
for me to communicate and opinions represented may offer a snapshot of the various memes running around my brain,
and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not the same, nor even similar, to
those I may hold today.The best youth ministry content on the web can be found here. We offer the best youth ministry tips, resources, how-tos, videos and more. You can also find small group curriculum too. Terrace Crawford is a nationally recognized, affordable, Christian youth speaker. He is a much-sought-after speaker to teenagers and offers mentoring to youth and to youth workers around the world. You can also find free resources for your youth pastor networks on this site.